Courage or Comfort?

Publication: Pastoral Letter, July 2005

Dear Friend in Christ:

I pray this letter finds you well and having a blessed summer. I recently returned from a
significant time of ministry in Siberia, the Netherlands, and Belgium, where I
ministered to many leaders. It was an intense two-week trip with Goos Vedder, my
friend and fellow minister. Goos formerly ministered with Open Doors and “Brother
Andrew,” the well-known Bible smuggler. In fact, we were able to meet with “Brother
Andrew” while we were in the Netherlands.

As I traveled, I was surprised by the enthusiasm and hunger in Siberia. The church in
Novosibirsk has between 1500-2000 members, with many young leaders who are
hungry for teaching. In Brussels, Belgium, which is the “capital of the Europe,” I spoke
to 25 key pastors and leaders who relate to Ramond Vanderput, the Chairman of “A-
Net.”A majority of these leaders are from Africa who are now living in Europe and
pastoring predominantly African churches. I also met with our good friends Paul and
Rebecca Petrie. Paul continues to work with European Union leaders. Brussels is a
secular city, but has a rapidly growing Islamic population.

In the Netherlands, I spoke to a group of 125 leaders gathered from that nation, and also
from Slovakia, Poland, and the Czech Republic. We spent a day discussing how to
strengthen the leadership in those areas.

Goos has tremendous credibility in Eastern Europe due to his years of traveling and
Bible smuggling, back when it was very dangerous to spread the Gospel in Communist-
controlled countries. We thank you for your prayers as we seek to assist leaders abroad.

CAN WE AFFECT THE WORLD?

I am stirred in my heart ,and I want to share something with you that I believe you will
find encouraging in your present walk with the Lord. Before I get into my subject, I
want to acknowledge the inspiration provided to me for this letter by David Murrow
through his excellent book, Why Men Hate Going to Church. It is an excellent book
and a clear diagnosis of a serious issue. But let me hasten to add, it is a book for
everyone who loves the Church. Murrow’s book is an ally to my long held desire to
reach men and women, and especially the young. The broader issue is the very nature of
the Church: What kind of community it will be and what its affect will be on the world.
Murrow’s point is that the church has become feminine, introspective, and focused on
comfort as opposed to courage. This perspective is reinforced by a decline in reaching
those of certain ages and also the interests expressed by the Church’s infrastructure and
emphasis.

THE COMFORTING CHRIST

There is no question that Jesus brought comfort to the afflicted. He healed, delivered,
and encouraged those in difficulty. He advocated peace and comfort to those who
mourned and promised fullness to those who hungered and thirsted after righteousness
(see Matthew 5:1-9).

Jesus went even further and commissioned His disciples to minister His grace to others
who were in need (see Luke 10).And in Matthew 25,He went so far as to state that our
judgment would be measured by our ministry to the hungry, the imprisoned, strangers,
and those who need clothing. Jesus comforted multitudes with food, with truth, with His
compassion for those without shepherds, and with the love of God. And He trained His
disciples to do the same. It should be noted that the comfort was for the outsiders_those
neglected by religion_and not for the religious.

THE COURAGEOUS CHRIST

It has been said that Jesus comforted the afflicted and afflicted the comfortable. It took
courage to do both. It took courage to go to the street, to Samaria, to the adulteress, to
the lepers, and it certainly took courage to go to the Cross. It also took courage to
challenge the religious establishment, the self-righteous, and the leaders of His day. It
took courage to drive out the money changers with a whip. It took courage to identify
with John the Baptist who called the clergy a “generation of snakes.” It was afflicting
the comfortable that factored into His Crucifixion.

The courage of Christ is revealed in another way_we can see that He appealed to strong
men. The disciples were fishermen, zealots, and tax collectors. Perhaps the best
evidence of His character is who was attracted to Him and His ministry.

THE COMFORTING CHURCH

The Church does offer comfort_but mostly to the Church. We have a “feel good”
worship service, a “feel good” sermon, and leadership designed to make people “feel
good” about themselves. It is true that our message often brings hope and comfort to the
afflicted, but most often they don’t show up to hear it.

The Church has become a counseling center, offering psychological help, and mostly to
its own. It has become a service station of self-help and personal improvement, and a
place to learn how to be politically correct. What prophecy exists seems to exist
primarily to comfort and affirm, rather than to correct and challenge.

The academic quality and ceremonial consistency offer predictable stability to an

otherwise unpredictable world. But while the Church is consistent, it is also boring to
the courageous who long for a message that presents a challenging personal mission.
My basis for this perspective lies in who we are not reaching: The young, the
adventurer, the athlete, the mountain climber, the dirt bike rider, and the skate boarder.
Yes, we have the Truth but we desperately need the courage to deliver it outsiders.

THE COURAGEOUS CHURCH

True, there are courageous churches, both here and abroad. I know of churches in the
United States that have courageously stepped out into the community to reach addicts
and prostitutes_and I know of courageous ministers who reach the homeless, the inner
city, and troubled youth. But unfortunately, they are not the norm.
Courage is more evident in other areas of the world where it is costly to be a Christian.
Terry Law of Tulsa, Oklahoma, ministers in Baghdad. I have another friend who works
on the Baghdad airport highway. Then there is the Chinese Church which has suffered
immeasurably, and North African Christians who die daily. One could look at the Sudan
where Christians have been murdered by the thousands and even hundreds of thousands,
and have suffered rape and slavery. I have Iranian friends who face death to evangelize
and their pastors have been imprisoned and executed.

These are all courageous Christians. There are many places where persecution is more
subtle and less overt, but nevertheless requires courage. But perhaps an overlooked area
is in the Western nations, where secularism reigns and defiantly dares Christians to
declare that Jesus is the only Savior and Lord. We are blessed in America to enjoy the
freedom to express our faith. But if we refrain from doing so, we need to be reminded
that there are those here who would curtail that freedom, who view us as enemies, and
who would train our own children to reject their faith in favor or relativism. A church
whose focus is only on comfort without courage is a church that will appeal to those
who seek comfort and fail to reach those who await a call to mission. It will not be the
Church of Jesus Christ. The Church as “mother” needs reform.

Many years ago, I was invited to preach in a country far away. The trip would require
that I miss Christmas at home. I declined. Soon after, I received a letter from my friend,
Costa Deir, a missionary who is now with the Lord. He noted a Scripture verse at the
close of his letter: Numbers 32:6,“Shall you sit here while your brothers go to war?” I
changed my plans and went. It takes courage to change. If we keep doing what we are
doing, we will keep getting what we are getting. In 1964,I decided that I could not keep
doing what I was doing. I was a conservative Southern Baptist pastor. We had good
church attendance statistics, but I was, like many pastors, unfulfilled.I studied the book
of Acts and the power of the Holy Spirit. In April of that year, I received the baptism of
the Holy Spirit. Then things began to change. We lost one-half of the church. The head
of the finance committee actually called me a “bastard.”

The deacons resigned. The adult department superintendent likened our church to the
ship mentioned in Acts 27.Like that ship, the church was breaking up in the face of
contrary winds. He delivered his message to the Adult Sunday School Class, and then
resigned. Later, I was “voted on” and somehow survived. The church finally began to
grow and eventually regained its losses and then nearly doubled in size. But the measure
was not numbers; it was the courage to obey. I have faced that issue many times since,
and have not always obeyed, but I do know that change requires courage. These
questions face us: Will we model after the churches that have failed to reach their
cultures or will we model after those that are courageously succeeding? Will we have
the courage to change or will we settle for the coffin of comfort?

TAKING ACTION

Here’s what we can do: We can review the biblical characters that took action. We can
make mission a personal matter. We can repeat the command of Jesus, “Tarry in
Jerusalem until you receive power from on high” (see Luke 24:49).We can seek the
Lord as to how we can reach those in their teens and twenties and men who love
adventure and competition. We can focus on productivity rather than problems. And, we
can take a page from the suffering church and be inspired to act as we also pray for
them.

Yes, we will make mistakes, but the biggest mistake is to just keep doing more of the
same. I believe God will forgive the mistakes of those who venture out. But for those
who just opt for comfort? I don’t know. Comfort or courage? Let us be reminded that
Jesus chose courage. True disciples will do the same. I pray that Jesus will show each of
us how to change our personal focus, and find the courage to fulfill our mission in the
world.

In Him,
Charles Simpson

Scripture Reference: Matthew, Luke, Numbers, Acts